


Unexpecting

by lanestreets



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: F/F, Hurt/Comfort, Kid Fic, M/M, Parenting Shenanigans, Unplanned Pregnancy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-22
Updated: 2018-07-22
Packaged: 2019-06-14 06:53:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,893
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15383127
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lanestreets/pseuds/lanestreets
Summary: When they find themselves largely alone on Earth, tasked with preserving Asgard’s history and her people and working with Earth’s governments to settle political issues, and it seems like battle in another form, Thor and Brunnhilde find themselves seeking comfort in each other. It is harmless, (mostly) innocent fun, until they find themselves staring down at a little indicator, telling them that Brunnhilde is pregnant.In which Thor, Brunnhilde, Bruce and Sif raise a child together, and grow a little themselves in the process.





	Unexpecting

**Author's Note:**

> hello friends! once again, we are ignoring civil war in its entirety and taking only what i like from aou because i can. 
> 
> there is a brief discussion about the topic of abortion, in this chapter, and it being a route to take with unplanned pregnancies, but it is only discussed briefly.
> 
> i made a playlist for this. it's _[here](http://deafclintbartn.tumblr.com/post/176143447246/unexpecting-an-unexpecting-playlist-for-expecting)_.
> 
> onward!

It had started out as harmless fun, really. 

That’s what keeps running through Thor’s head. It was not unheard of, considered common even, for brothers and sisters in arms to find comfort with each other when they needed it, and how they needed it. Thor heard stories from the Warriors Three of nights spent with those they’d fought with, he had stories to share himself, Sif had stories to share with them as well.  He’s certain the Valkyrie had similar customs, if Brunnhilde’s tales of her time with them are all true. 

So when they find themselves largely alone on Earth, tasked with preserving Asgard’s history and her people and working with Earth’s governments to settle political issues, and it seems like battle in another form, Thor and Brunnhilde find themselves seeking comfort in each other. 

There are no strings attached to it. They are simply good friends, who know each other intimately, and are interested in nothing more than that. Nothing more than stolen moments to make each other feel better, when it seems like the weight of worlds is pressing on their backs. 

They both are very sound in this arrangement, and it is for that reason that it is harmless, (mostly) innocent fun. 

And then. 

And then. 

Thor wonders what mistake they made. 

Brunnhilde truly worries for the future for the first time since the fall of Asgard. 

And they both stare down at the little indicator that’s telling them that Brunnhilde is pregnant.

~*~

It takes a couple of days for it to sink in. 

~*~

The first they really discuss it devolves into mostly panicked yelling and frantic hand gestures until Brunnhilde just leaves him alone in the compound gym, and Thor lets her go because he knows it is probably for the best that they take some space to sort out their thoughts some more. 

Thor slumps into an armchair in the common area and puts his head in his hands, and prays to the ancestors for the floor to open up beneath him and swallow him whole. 

“Thor?” comes Bruce’s tentative voice, and Thor thinks that maybe he should have just prayed to his brother instead. Loki would have made the floor swallow him just for the fun of it. 

Thor puts the best facsimile of a smile he can force on his face, and looks up. 

“Hello, Banner. Can I help you?” 

“I was actually going to ask you the same thing, Thor,” Bruce says. He looks like he wants to sit and is also too afraid to. Thor gestures to the chair beside him to prod Bruce into sitting, so that maybe he’ll stop looking so anxious. Bruce sits, and does not look any less anxious. Thor sighs. “A couple of us overheard you and Brunnhilde getting into it, earlier. We didn’t hear what you were talking about or anything, but it sounded serious. Is everything alright?”

Thor doesn’t know what compels him, maybe the rock-solid trust he has in Bruce after Sakaar and Hela and everything, but he says, without any sort of preamble, “Brunnhilde is pregnant. It was unexpected. It’s a bit of a difficult situation.”

Bruce’s eyes widen. 

“Well, that’s. Wow. Okay.”

“I feel terrible,” Thor says, and his voice is a little raspy and a lot strained, because he really, really does. Sure they were both in this together. But now she is the one facing the consequences of it. “I’m not going to let her deal with this on her own, but without the resources we had on Asgard, she doesn’t have much of a choice in where to go from here. She doesn’t have the option to terminate the pregnancy if she wanted to. I wish there were some way I could give her that option, because she deserves it. It is her body. She should have the ability to choose that if she wants too, but with only Midgardian resources, I think any measures she could take would be too risky. As similar as we are to humans, we’re vastly different in many ways as well.”

Thor’s whole body sags a little in defeat. 

Ancestors, he wishes this were all different. He wishes there were something he could do to make this better for Brunnhilde. 

But he is but a man, and the world is not so kind. 

“Thor, buddy, this is a tough situation. If she doesn’t have the choice, don’t keep expressing that you wish she did, cause that’s just reminding her of what she can’t have. Just be there for her. Ask her what she needs and do it. Respect the choices she makes about this pregnancy, and don’t try to make decisions, offer suggestions. You said it. It’s her body, so you can have an opinion all you want, but it’s her choice when it comes down to it. You’re a good man. I’m sure you’re a great boyfriend too,” Bruce says, reaching out to pat Thor’s forearm gently. 

Thor shakes his head. “We are not together.”

“Oh,” Bruce says.

“Oh,” Thor echoes. 

“So this is…?” Bruce trails off.

“Complicated,” Thor finishes. “It is common for brothers and sisters in arms to find themselves in each other’s beds. But Asgardian contraceptives, it turns out, are a little more effective than Earth ones. We were simply comforting each other. Having fun. Nothing more, until this.” 

“That’s all it was?” Bruce asks, and he sounds a bit disbelieving. 

Thor nods. “Neither of us harbor any romantic feelings for the other. I respect her greatly as a warrior and a woman, and I am immensely grateful that she is a part of my life, and I love her. But not in that manner. I know she feels the same. We discussed all of this before we started anything.” 

And they had. Thor never fell into bed with his fellow warriors without making sure they negotiated the nature of their relationship thoroughly, even when he was younger, more arrogant, more self-centered. This is one thing he has never fallen short in. 

Bruce makes a noise that Thor does not have the energy to decipher, and slides down a little in his chair. 

“Well.” Bruce stares at nothing, much the same way Thor is doing. “This is a situation.”

“That it is,” Thor agrees. And then softly, but with immense feeling, he breathes out a quiet, “Shit.”

~*~

The next time Thor and Brunnhilde talk, it is more civil. 

There is no yelling. There is no exasperated sighing. There is no angry waving of hands to emphasize points.

There are deadly calm voices. There are untouched drinks between them. There are a table and chairs instead of the empty space of  a gym spanning between them while they screamed across it at each other. 

“I talked to Helen Cho, the doctor that I was telling you about earlier,” Thor tells her. “I did not say anything about this, but she told me enough. Earth’s methods would be far too dangerous for your body.”

Brunnhilde sighs, and thunks her elbows on to the table, and drops her head into her hands. “ I was afraid you’d say that. I expected it. But I was afraid you’d say it.”

“I’m so sorry,” Thor says softly. He thinks Brunnhilde rolls her eyes, but her hands are mostly covering them. It seems like something she’d do. “I know I’m not your partner. But I’m not leaving you to your own devices with this. Whatever you need from me, just ask, and I’ll be there. I swear it. On my honor, as King of Asgard. I’m not leaving you alone. We’ll raise the child together, and they’ll be the most loved little one in all the nine realms.” He does not correct himself when he thinks ‘there are only eight realms now’. He reaches out to take Brunnhilde’s hand, gently squeezing in a reassuring grip. “And until then, I am at your beck and call. Anything you require of me, My Lady.” Brunnhilde finally looks up at him, really looks at him, and he’s surprised to find her eyes shining with tears. He hadn’t been prepared for that. “What’s wrong? Did I say something wrong?”  Thor asks, more than a little concerned. Is he already screwing up? If he can’t even get this part right, can’t even offer his assistance properly, how is he going to fare as a father?

Brunnhilde shakes her head, and Thor lets out a quiet sigh of relief. 

“Thor, I’m scared,” she admits in a voice so soft, he’d almost swear she hadn’t spoken. That’s somehow infinitely worse. “I’m scared. I’m not ready to be a mother. I’m not. I wasn’t ready for this. I’m not prepared for any of it. What if I’m terrible? What if this child hates me?”

Thor stands, and rounds the table to crouch next to her. She towers over him in her chair, this way, but he feels it is the right thing to do. He takes both of her hands in his, and holds them tightly, and she squeezes them back hard enough that he thinks his bones might be crushed in her grip. He does not breathe a word of his discomfort. He runs his thumbs over her knuckles, and he looks up at her, with all of the love and adoration he feels for her written plain on his face. He only hopes she can see it there.

“I am no more ready or equipped to be a father. But we have months to prepare. We’ll learn. And once the child is born, we’ll be at least a little more ready than we are now, and we’ll adapt and we’ll figure it out. The child will be loved. That is what matters. The rest will follow. For now, we’ll worry about you taking care of yourself, and I will be here. I love you, and I will love this child, and I will be here,” he promises. And he means every word of it. He has never been so sure of anything in his centuries of life. 

Brunnhilde smiles, and a single tear falls down her cheek. Thor frees a hand, and brushes it away with his thumb. 

Brunnhilde is battle-tested and battle-worn, can kick his ass seven ways to Sunday, and has seen more horrors than Thor can even dream of, and he has never been more gentle with another person.

“This child will be the most spoiled little thing in all of the realms,” she says finally, almost laughing, her voice a touch too raspy. “Between your team and the people of Asgard?” 

Thor returns her smile, and cups her cheek with one hand. “They will know love like no other. And they will have two parents who care about them more than anything, even if we don’t have it all figured out right away.”

They sit like that for a long moment, silence spanning what feels like hours. 

Brunnhilde is the one who finally breaks it. “Thank you, Your Majesty,” she says, using the title teasingly. Thor chuckles, and draws her hand towards him, and presses a kiss to her knuckles.

They are not a couple. He does not think they ever will be. But he loves her, he’s certain of that, and they are in this together, now, for better or for worse. 

Onward, into the breach, they go.

**Author's Note:**

> find me on tumblr at _[deafclintbartn](http://deafclintbartn.tumblr.com/)_


End file.
